Alignment training mat for golf

ABSTRACT

An alignment training mat for golf has a permanent target line oriented through the ball placement location and perpendicular to the target line at or offset from the ball placement location and one or more sets of primary and secondary foot placement outlines or footprints for various golf shots. The practice mat enables a golfer to place a ball on the ball placement location and then look along the target line to the shot target. The golfer then decides which golf shot will be required to reach the target from the ball placement location and then stands on the appropriate primary foot placement outline. If required, the golfer then moves one or both feet to secondary foot placement outlines and adjusts their weight distribution on the secondary foot placement outlines. The golfer is then able to look at the target from a properly oriented and balanced perspective and then make the required swing at the ball on the ball placement location.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application62/169,324 filed Jun. 1, 2015.

FIELD OF THE INVENTIONS

The inventions described below relate to the field of training aids forgolf.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONS

For both new and experienced golfers, orienting the golfers bodyrelative to a target line to the shot target is one of the greatestchallenges. Small variations in orientation cause shot misalignmentwhich new and experienced golfers may misattribute to swing dynamics orother issues.

SUMMARY

The devices and methods described below provide for an alignmenttraining mat for golf with a permanent target line through the ballplacement location. Parallel to the target line and offset from the ballplacement location are one or more sets of primary and secondary footplacement indicia, outlines or footprints for various golf shots. Thepractice mat enables a golfer to place a ball on the ball placementlocation and then look along the target line to the shot target. Thegolfer then decides which golf shot will be required to reach the targetfrom the ball placement location and then stands on the appropriateprimary foot placement outline. If required, the golfer then moves oneor both feet to secondary foot placement outlines and adjusts theirweight distribution as illustrated on the secondary foot placementoutlines. The golfer is then able to look at the target from a properlyoriented and balanced perspective and then make the required swing atthe ball on the ball placement location.

Regular use of the alignment training mat results in a consistentpre-shot routine which has been shown to improve golf performance. Thealignment training mat may also include holes, grommets or otherattachment components on the corners of the mat to enable the mat to besecured to the turf during use. Golf tees may be pushed through each ofthe grommets, holes or other components to secure the golf mat to theturf prior to a shot.

The alignment training mats described herein for golf are sized inproportion to the height of the golfer to use it. Young children willhave smaller mats with proportionally smaller primary and secondary footoutlines oriented to accommodate the physical size of the user. Forchildren age and gender may be used to estimate the proper size mat tobe used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a youth aligned on an alignment trainingmat for golf.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the alignment training mat for golf from FIG.1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONS

Golfer 1 of FIG. 1 is illustrated standing on mid-iron foot placementindicia, footprints 14, on alignment training mat 10 preparing to strikegolf ball 11 in ball placement location or spot 12. Alignment trainingmat 10 is configured for a right-handed golfer and may be configured fora left-handed golfer as a mirror image of training mat 10.

Alignment training mat 10 of FIG. 2 is formed on a golf practice mat 13which includes an illustrated target line 16 passing through ballplacement spot 12. Perpendicular to target line 16 and offset from ballplacement spot 12 is golfer alignment line 17. The ball placement spotis offset from golfer alignment line 17 by offset distance 15. At leastone set of foot placement indicia or outlines such as short iron andputting foot placement outlines 18 are parallel to target line 16 andlocated perpendicular to the golfer alignment line with the left andright foot indicia on the left and right side of golfer alignment line17 respectively. Short iron and putting foot placement outlines 18include primary foot placement outlines 18L and 18R which are used forputting. Secondary foot placement outline 19 corresponds to primary footplacement outline 18R and they are both used for chipping. Mid-iron footplacement outlines 21 include primary foot placement outlines 21L and21R which are used to align the golfer's body for golf shots withmid-iron clubs. Secondary foot placement outlines 22L and 22R correspondto primary foot placement outlines 21L and 21R and are used for makinggolf shots with mid-iron clubs. A set of primary and secondary footplacement indicia are oriented parallel to target line 16 andperpendicular to the golfer alignment line 17. Driver foot placementoutlines 23 includes primary foot placement outlines 23L and 23R whichare used to align the golfer's body prior to final foot placement forgolf shots with long golf clubs such as woods and long iron clubs forexample, the driver or 3 iron. Secondary foot placement outline 24 andprimary foot placement outline 23L are used for hitting a tee shot witha driver. Primary and secondary foot placement indicia may also includeone or more additional indicia for different size feet to accommodate agreater range of user sizes.

Alignment training mat 10 may be sized based on the height of eachgolfer. Short iron and putter distance 30 is measured from target line16 to the closest tip 18T of short iron and putting foot placementoutlines 18. Mid-iron distance 32 is measured from target line 16 to theclosest tip 21T of mid-iron foot placement outlines 21. Driver distance34, used for woods and long irons, is measured from target line 16 tothe closest tip 23T of driver foot placement outlines 23. Alignmenttraining mat 10 may include one or more sets of primary foot placementindicia or outlines and the primary foot placement outlines may beselected for any club or subset of clubs selected by the golfer. Forexample, primary foot placement outlines 18 are oriented for a putter,primary foot placement outlines 21 are oriented for a 7 iron and primaryfoot placement outlines 23 are oriented for a driver. Any suitable clubor selection of clubs may be used for an alignment training mat and thedistances from the target line to the tips of the foot placementoutlines will change accordingly. Foot placement outlines may bepermanently formed on mat 13 or they may be removably attached to mat 13to enable a single alignment training mat such as alignment training mat10 to be configured for different sized golfers.

Ball strike zone 35 may be permanently outlined on alignment trainingmat 10 or it may be removable and replaceable. This permits a worn ballstrike zone to be replaced without replacing the entire alignmenttraining mat which will make the use of these training mats economicalfor golf training programs and practice facilities. Removal of ballstrike zone 35 may also facilitate use of the alignment training mat 10on any suitable grass surface such as a driving range or a golf courseto facilitate the development of an optimal golf shot routine and tooptimize body alignment for golf shots on any grass surface.

Use of the alignment training mat may be further optimized by theinclusion of optional holes, grommets or other attachment components inthe mat to enable the training mat to be secured to turf for practice. Agolf tee or other suitable attachment device may be pushed through oneor more of the grommets such as grommets 26 to secure alignment trainingmat 10 to any suitable turf or other practice surface.

Primary foot placement indicia or outlines such as foot placementoutlines 18L and 18R may be colored differently or include any suitabletextual or graphical symbol to differentiate them from secondary footplacement outlines such as secondary foot placement outline 19. Primaryfoot placement outlines such as foot placement outlines 18L and 18R maybe colored differently or include any suitable textual or graphicalsymbol to differentiate them from other primary foot placement outlinessuch as primary foot placement outlines 21L and 21R or primary footplacement outlines 23L and 23R or to designate the club or clubs forwhich the foot placement outlines are appropriate.

Secondary foot placement indicia or outlines 22L and 22R may be coloreddifferently from primary foot placement outlines or any other secondaryfoot placement outlines or include any suitable textual or graphicalsymbol to indicate the type of golf shot for which the foot placementoutline is appropriate and or for indicating weight distribution, suchas a numerical percentage, between the secondary foot placementoutlines. For example secondary foot placement outlines 22L and 22R areoptimized for mid-iron golf shots and require that the golfers weight beequally distributed between foot placement outlines 22L and 22R and a50% indicia may be included on each foot placement outline. Secondaryfoot placement outline 19 is optimized for chipping and may include someindication that when chipping, the majority of the golfers weight shouldbe oriented on foot placement outline 19 and very little weight shouldbe placed on primary foot placement outline 18R. An 80% indicia may beincluded on foot placement outline 19 and a 20% indicia may be includedon foot placement outline 18R. Alternatively, secondary foot placementoutline 24 is optimized for hitting a tee shot with a driver and mayinclude some indication that when hitting a golf shot with a wood, longiron or driver, the majority of the golfers weight should be initiallyoriented on foot placement outline 24 and as the swing is accomplishedthe golfer shifts his or her weight from secondary foot placementoutline 24 to primary foot placement outline 23L.

In use, a golfer places a golf ball on ball placement location 12 andorients himself or herself to look along target line 16 to any suitabletarget as shown in FIG. 2 target view position 36. Once the golfer hasviewed the target along target line 16 the golfer decides what shot andaccordingly which club is appropriate to hit the golf ball to thetarget. The golfer then selects the appropriate grip for the selectedshot and club. Then the golfer places his or her feet on the appropriateprimary foot placement outlines for the shot and club selected.Additionally, the golfer aims the clubface and positions their body andarms to the ball and adjusts their grip pressure. Then the golfer placeshis or her feet on the appropriate secondary foot placement outlines forthe shot and club selected and orients the golfer's weight on theappropriate foot or feet as shown on the alignment training mat. Thegolfer then looks again at the target to confirm their orientation tothe target line, then rehearses the golf swing motion mentally and thenlooks at the ball and then swings the golf club at the ball.

While the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods have beendescribed in reference to the environment in which they were developed,they are merely illustrative of the principles of the inventions. Theelements of the various embodiments may be incorporated into each of theother species to obtain the benefits of those elements in combinationwith such other species, and the various beneficial features may beemployed in embodiments alone or in combination with each other. Otherembodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from thespirit of the inventions and the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A device for training a golfer comprising: a mat having atarget line and a golfer alignment line perpendicular to the targetline; a ball placement spot on the target line; a plurality of primaryfoot placement indicia; a plurality of secondary foot placement indiciacorresponding to the plurality of primary foot placement indicia; andwherein the plurality of primary and secondary foot placement indiciaare oriented parallel to the target line and perpendicular to the golferalignment line.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the ball placement spotis offset from the golfer alignment line.
 3. The device of claim 1wherein the plurality of primary foot placement indicia comprise: aplurality of sets of primary foot placement indicia.
 4. The device ofclaim 3 wherein each set of the plurality of primary foot placementindicia has at least one secondary foot placement indicia correspondingthe set of primary foot placement indicia.
 5. The device of claim 3wherein each set of the plurality of primary foot placement indicia hasat least one primary foot placement indicia on the left side of thegolfer alignment line and at least one primary foot placement indicia onthe right side of the golfer alignment line.
 6. The device of claim 1further comprising: a ball strike zone encompassing the ball placementspot and a portion of the target line.
 7. The device of claim 6 whereinthe ball strike zone is removable.
 8. The device of claim 1 furthercomprising: a plurality of attachment components for securing the deviceon turf.